How to Run Baseball Hitting Drills

Step 1

I am going to discuss three of the most used hitting drills throughout baseball. The first, and most basic one is hitting off of a tee. There are three different variations of hitting off of the tee. The first one is going to be hitting the pitch down the middle. Set the tee so it replicates a pitch that would be located in the middle of the plate and work on hitting it directly back up the middle. Eventually you should be able to hit it up the middle on every swing.

Step 2

The next step for tee work is the outside pitch. You will set the tee up on the outer third of the plate, almost located on the black. Then you will move your stance about a foot closer to the pitcher, that way the tee is lined up with your back knee. The reason for doing this is because to effectively hit the outside pitch you need to hit it deep on your swing and drive it to right field. The goal when working the outside is to hit line drives down the first base line and really focus on hitting that way with power.

Step 3

The last stage of tee work is the inside pitch. You will now put the tee at the top left/right corner of the plate depending if you are right or left handed. Now you will change your stance and move back towards the catcher about a foot and really focus on pulling the ball down the line. You will really want to focus on keeping your hands inside the ball and constantly hitting line drives down the line. Do not try and pull it too much, otherwise they will be foul and teach bad habits.

Step 4

The next drill is soft toss. You will need a partner to feed you the balls. Stand in the batters box like normal and have your partner stand in the opposite box, but slightly more forward towards the pitcher, like at the top of the box. They are going to toss the ball under hand and your goal is to hit the ball up the middle at the pitcher. It will feel different at first because the ball is coming in at a small angle, but the goal is to square up the ball every time and drive it back up the box. Eventually, the partner can feed the balls more constantly and this will make your hands quicker by swinging and getting ready to swing immediately.

Step 5

The last step is your basic BP. Have a coach or teammate thrown to you from about 60-70 feet away with a good velocity to replicate a real pitcher. The goal here to get your timing down and drive the ball to all fields. Hit the ball wherever it is pitched, and this will make you a better hitter.